Audiophilepure

https://www.hifinews.com/content/goldenear-t66-loudspeaker

The result is a loudspeaker with a better balance overall. Not only is the sound less dense and compact in terms of imaging, but fine detail is presented in a more airy and open fashion. In other words, while never quite displaying ultimate resolution, the GoldenEar T66 has the audiophile character its designers were aiming for. Anyone used to the erstwhile ‘American’ tuning, which sometimes seemed more suited to home theatre than hi-fi, will be pleasantly surprised. The interplay between the T66’s passive drivers and its active woofers delivers spacious detail on an expansive soundstage that has the rock-solid foundation you would expect from a son of Triton. A benefit of the semi-active DSP-controlled approach is that the T66 generally remains in equilibrium, even at lower volumes.

https://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0224/Borresen_X2_Floorstanding_Loudspeakers_Review.htm

The Børresen X2 brought back memories of the sound of the very pricey Raidho TD4.2 speakers I reviewed in July 2020, although in miniature. It was in miniature only because the Raidho speakers were seven driver speakers that stood more than five feet tall and were two feet deep. But the X2’s treble response was awe-inspiring, enabling Tony Williams’ snare drum and cymbals on many tracks to float about halfway between both speakers but mainly toward the right speaker.

After listening to many sides of this Miles Davis box set, I could have easily filled Enjoy The Music.com’s server space by describing the many album tracks, alternative takes, and outtakes from the sessions during the four years of this ensemble’s lifespan. But it bears repeating that the midrange of these speakers was extremely lifelike sounding, with a transient response to match. The micro- and macrodynamics of these speakers were one of the primary reasons I think they are worth their asking price. This, along with their very tight mid-bass, made listening to the various sessions recorded throughout the band’s history come to life in my listening room.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/wilson-audio-specialties-sasha-v-loudspeaker

Are female jazz vocals one genre or two? It was time to stop classroom grading and start appreciating the Sasha Vs on their own merits. A longtime go-to for me and others is Ella Fitzgerald’s definitive album Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie!, from 1961. My LP copy is a fine, 200gm vinyl remaster from the late Classic Records (Verve V6-4053). The standout heartbreaker here has to be “Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most.” Listening to the Sasha Vs, I heard more subtle interplay between the softly mixed piano and the guitar than I’ve heard before. As for Ella, there was much velvet skin on the bone as she descended step by step from the first to the last statements of the refrain. When she lands on the word “most,” she is in alto territory, an E-flat below middle C. Delicious!

Sure, I’ve got some hard rock. I had preordered the four-LP box set of the freshly remastered Who’s Next (Polydor/UMC 35858531). The first LP is the original album, sequenced as it was released. The other three LPs contain a complete live performance by The Who at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium, on December 13, 1971. The live recording allowed me to continue playing my very own version of “Where’s Waldo?” I was there for that show, presented by Bill Graham, but I had never heard any of it on record until now. Glyn Johns, who mixed the studio album, was on hand to record the live performance to 16-track tape using the Wally Heider remote truck.

The thought 25 years ago of a speaker as sophisticated in both design and performance was merely a daydream. In 1995 dollars the Aura would have cost a whopping $36,000. And even at that price the Aura’s abilities today were barely touched upon at any price then. While Estelon offers value at each tier they offer, I proffer the Aura is THE value among them.

It’s a wonderful time to be an audiophile. For under 30K one can put together a system that was bank account draining ultra -reference level a couple of decades ago. Estelon is uniquely positioned as a groundbreaking cutting edge manufacturer to continue leading the way while redefining what great sound reproduction is. Rarely does a manufacturer, especially a speaker manufacturer, hit home runs from the get-go. With the Aura, we have a bases loaded, game 7, two outs in the ninth inning, down by 3, 3-2 pitch crushing grand slam.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/q-acoustics-5040-loudspeaker

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Q Acoustics 5040. Other than the GoldenEar BRX, which costs $1900/pair, and the KEF LS50 Meta, which costs $1599.99/pair, the 5040 is the least expensive speaker I have reviewed in more than four years. The Q Acoustics is a tower speaker while those other two are standmounts, which means the cost of a pair of good-quality stands needs to be added to their prices. But even without taking its affordable price into consideration, Q Acoustics’s 5040 offers superb sound quality. It combines sufficient low-frequency extension and articulation with excellent clarity and imaging and low coloration. As the 5040 won’t play deafeningly loudly, it will work best in smallish to medium-sized rooms, and amplifier choice will be critical in getting the best from this speaker. Highly recommended.

Is the M3 a perfect loudspeaker? Of course not, no speaker, or any audio product for that matter, is. Yet at its price, while clearly not within the means of most, these elegant and beautiful transducers boldly represent the realization of the striking potential possible when known boundaries are pushed. 

What Børresen Acoustics and Audio Group Denmark have accomplished with the implementation of the wide-ranging scope of inventive and original technologies that they have created and champion results in the achievement of a new milestone. To dismiss the Børresen M3 loudspeakers because you are unable, or unwilling, to afford them would be to ignore their singular gift to music lovers, and those who do “get it,” will enjoy a specific level of playback that is, in my experience, simply unavailable from any other loudspeaker available as of this writing.

One thing you certainly can’t call the Linkwitz LX521 is “conventional.” Veneer and finish choices notwithstanding, it is very much a “form-follows-function” type of design that eschews any attempts at overt “beautification” in favor of what is needed for ultimate performance. I don’t know that I have had a more aesthetically polarizing speaker in my home before. Opinions ranged from “Wow, that’s different and cool looking!” to “A speaker that only an audio nerd and his mother could love!” I guess that means I technically fall into both categories! Seriously though, I think the design is unique and some of the finish options that Linkwitz offers (such as the full American Walnut and the Aluminum/Panzerholtz options) can look quite striking.

https://www.hifichoice.com/content/scansonic-m20

Nonetheless, I think that the speaker still sounds a bit soft in the treble, with a lack of sparkle on cymbals and space in atmospheric recordings, and only after a bit of experimentation do I work out what I assume to be the problem.

Despite the dispersion characteristics of that vertically mounted tweeter, I form a strong impression that, in my listening position, my ears are just too high for this short speaker – an opinion reinforced when I get off the sofa, which isn’t exactly high, and sit on the floor. This is much better, leading me to wonder whether this speaker is designed for bean-bag listeners, and then to try some ways of solving the problem. Some small wooden blocks under the front spikes gives the M20 an upward tilt, which seems to help, but things really improve when I trawl out of the shed a pair of old – and hefty – 12in stands I have for some long-forgotten speakers, and park the M20 on these. Suddenly there’s better treble detail and focus, and an altogether more involving sound.